Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Thank you!

Thanks to all who stopped by the blog hop and to those who left comments!

Congrats to Janice Hougland! You won the autographed copy of The Cowboy Who Caught Her Eye. I will email you for your address.

Congrats also to Marie Lisk. She won the $100 gift card!


Thursday, May 2, 2013

Welcome to the Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop!


I hope you are enjoying the various blog posts from this hop as much as I am! There are nearly fifty authors participating and talking about why they love cowboys! Cowboy Charm Blog Hops also has a companion Facebook Group if you'd like to join and receive updates on blog hops and prize announcements! 

That's not all! For every post you comment on with our email address, you'll be entered for some amazing prizes! 

***YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO QUALIFY***

GRAND PRIZE: A $100 Gift Card for Amazon or Barnes and Noble (your choice). The winner will be chosen at random from comments containing email addresses, and will be announced on May 7th. This is open to both US and international readers. 

I’d like to start my post with a question: Who was your first boyfriend?

I don’t mean the boy in the third row, or Junior from three houses down. I mean the one that came through the TV. The one you’d fight your siblings—possibly tooth and nail—in order to watch. 

Mine was Little Joe Cartwright. There was something about him riding his black and white paint, Cochise, to the tune of guitar strings that sent my heart tumbling. Although he never knew I existed, I dreamed of growing up and marrying him. Obviously, that never happened, but as we all know, one never completely forgets their first love. A part of Little Joe—the man he portrayed—remains in my heart today.  He held the class of a refined gentleman, yet was rugged and tough. His graceful and casual swagger turned heads. As did his flashy, cocky smile. But I believe it was his pioneer spirit I admired the most. Still do. 

The Wild West days of the American Frontier—that vast and untamed region west of the Mississippi—were turbulent times.  Men and women had to be tough, adventurous, and bold.  Dreams were made. And broken.  For me, writing about those eras, creating characters striving to fulfill their dreams, is the next best thing to living back then, but unlike Little Joe—who never truly ‘got the girl’—my heroes get their happily-ever-after.

My next release will be The Cowboy Who Caught Her Eye in June. Last fall my Harlequin editor asked if I’d write a story to be part of their July 2013 Cowboy Month.  The only stipulation was the hero had to be a cowboy and the heroine had to be pregnant. I of course said I’d love to write one, and had a blast getting to know Molly and Carter. (I will be giving away a paperback copy of this book to a commenter—so be sure to leave your email address.)
Blurb:
THE SHOPKEEPER'S SHAME 
Pregnant and unmarried, Molly Thorson knows her livelihood is under threat. The last thing she needs is a distracting cowboy swaggering into view. Especially one who knows she has a secret and still looks at her with desire in his eyes.  
THE COWBOY'S SECRET 
Carter Buchanan knows all about secrets. It's his job to know. And Molly sure has something to hide. But the fear in her eyes touches a place he thought long-ago dead-and now this cowboy can't help but consider exchanging his pistol for a band of gold.... 

And in August, I’ll have a miniseries Stetsons and Scandals, released. Both Dance with the Rancher and Rescued by the Ranger are short, sensual stories in Harlequin’s UNDONE line.

Besides cowboys and lawmen, my backlist includes stories about outlaws, miners, gamblers, loggers and several other professions. I believe each hero has a touch of Little Joe in them. His sense of adventure, persistence, and passion. I never tire of those wonderful old west heroes! 

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to leave a comment about who your first boyfriend was (and why) and then click here to continue on the Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Blog Hop!

I will be participating in the Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop, which will include some awesome prizes so stop by May 2-6 and join the fun!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Stetsons and Scandals


Stetsons and Scandals

The final rounds of edits are all done on  my next two stories in Harlequin’s UNDONE line. Dance with the Rancher and Rescued by the Ranger will make up the Stetsons and Scandals miniseries, and both will be released on August 1st.  Of course I’ll post the cover art as soon as I receive it. 

It snowed again here in Minnesota. So much that the school concert was cancelled for our granddaughters as well as Grandparents day at their school. The concert was held the following evening, and was wonderful, and this Friday will be Grandparents Day, so all is well.

We also had some guests for dinner. Due to the snow, the deer are still scrounging for food, and have discovered our bird feeder is open game. We don’t mind in the least, although, when they do come to the feeder, Bear, our 100 lb yellow lab and granddog, believes he’s then allowed on the couch so he too can watch them out the window, too. 

Snow or not, life is good so keep smiling.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Edits


A book’s journey is never ending. In most cases it starts the moment an idea pops into the author’s head, and from there, it flows forward through months, or longer, of rewrites and edits, and all sorts of behind the scenes work. Years later, long after it’s been published, it continues on, in the hands of readers. I think that’s pretty cool, and must say, there’s really not a part of that process I don’t enjoy.

Some parts are more intense, when I’m connected more passionately with the book, and other times, I have to concentrate to remember the characters and their journeys. I say this because Harlequin will be publishing two of my stories in August, in their UNDONE line for a western themed month, and I received the edits on both books this month. These stories were two or three books ago, and I had to reread each one in order to gain insight on the characters and what they wanted out of life, as well as how they achieved it, before I could work on the edits. That’s not unusual, and I don’t mind in the least, and had to chuckle last night when my husband remarked, “You wrote it, how can you not remember it?”

It’s amazing to me, too, all the file cabinets we have in our brain. How when we start reading, a drawer opens up and all those memories come flowing out. Like when we start watching a movie we don’t remember seeing, but then one pivotal scene happens, and everything clicks. That’s when I normally say, “I have seen this before—the ending is great!” That too—when I do it—drives my hubby crazy.

All that said, Slow Dance with the Rancher and Rescued by the Ranger will both be released in August. Both are fun, short stories. In “Slow Dance”, Rancher Garret McCoy places a bet he can get Rory Boyle to dance with him, even though, Rory—the preacher’s daughter—is none too fond of him. And in “Rescued”, Texas Ranger Trace Edwards returns to Montana to investigate stolen cattle—which also means he has to face Annie, the woman he’d left behind.

It’s a wonderful day for writing, considering it’s SNOWING again! I was hoping to take my Mustang out of storage this weekend. That’s obviously not going to happen.  Papa and I will be going to the Wild Turkey Federation Banquet on Saturday. We are taking two granddaughters this year. The oldest has gone with us the past few years, and now that her sister is four, she’s invited along, too, and overly excited from everything her older sister has told her.  

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog, so I’ll mention we had a fabulous Easter—as I hope you did! My brother and his family drove up from Nebraska, and two other brothers and their families joined us too. The Easter Bunny was good to everyone, besides LOTS of candy filled eggs scattered all over Papa’s garage because the yard was too full of snow, one granddaughter received a live bunny, another a bike and the other a pink BB gun. You can imagine the chaos of all that on your own.

Be good to one another, throw some goodies out to the spring time birds flocking home despite the weather, and give someone a hug for no reason other than you love them.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Cover Reveal...


The Cowboy Who Caught Her Eye
THE SHOPKEEPER'S SHAME 
Pregnant and unmarried, Molly Thorson knows her livelihood is under threat. The last thing she needs is a distracting cowboy swaggering into view. Especially one who knows she has a secret and still looks at her with desire in his eyes.  
THE COWBOY'S SECRET 
Carter Buchanan knows all about secrets. It's his job to know. And Molly sure has something to hide. But the fear in her eyes touches a place he thought long-ago dead-and now this cowboy can't help but consider exchanging his pistol for a band of gold.... 

Yes, I do believe it’s a gorgeous cover!

Last weekend we attended a murder mystery dinner. (This is one of my son’s and his wife.) We had a fabulous time, even though, at the end of the night it was revealed the character I was portraying, Poly Ester, was the murderer! 

We celebrated our youngest son’s birthday on Monday and our granddaughter lost another tooth! Our granddog had surgery on Wednesday for a torn ACL. Poor guy had been miserable with the injury, and after checking all other options, we chose to have it surgically repaired. He’s been very good about it all, and I do believe he’s enjoying all the extra attention he’s getting. Our youngest granddaughter, (she’s two) told all her friends at childcare about Bear and his big orange bandage. 

Speaking of grandchildren, we learned come August we will have a grandson! Very exciting news!

On the writing side, I’m still plugging away at my Alaska gold rush story. The research for this book continues to be fascinating, and makes me want to visit Alaska more than ever! My final class for community ed course I was teaching was last Thursday. I truly had some wonderfully talented students and will miss them!

That’s enough rambling for now. I must get back to 1892 in the Yukon.
Keep smiling! Life is good.        

Saturday, March 9, 2013

ON SALE


     The entire Quinter Bride Series is on sale for $2.99! 







The ebook version of Inheriting a Bride was released March 1st. So it is now available in both print and electronically. "A delightful western...humor, realism and sweet emotion." -RT Book Reviews on Inheriting a Bride.
 
Next up (print in June, ebook in July) The Cowboy Who Caught Her Eye. The cover art will be coming soon, in the meantime, here’s the blurb:

THE SHOPKEEPER'S SHAME 
Pregnant and unmarried, Molly Thorson knows her livelihood is under threat. The last thing she needs is a distracting cowboy swaggering into view. Especially one who knows she has a secret and still looks at her with desire in his eyes.  
THE COWBOY'S SECRET 
Carter Buchanan knows all about secrets. It's his job to know. And Molly sure has something to hide. But the fear in her eyes touches a place he thought long-ago dead-and now this cowboy can't help but consider exchanging his pistol for a band of gold.... 

Life at the home front continues to be busy. March arrived with a blustery winter storm. Hubby is so tired of moving snow this year, and I’m so thankful he continues to do so. I’m also thankful he keeps my car on the road. I came home last week with the brake light flashing. He informed me one of the lines was almost snapped in-two. (Most likely from driving through the foot of snow last week—I happened to be on the road prior to the snowplows.) Hubby says he’s afraid to tell me I need to consider getting a different car. Last time he said that I came home with my Mustang. (Which left me still driving my old one six months out of the year.) I know I’ll have to retire the Grand AM soon. She’s just been so trusty I hate to part with her. 

Speaking of cars—my son called me the other day to ask if I was brain washing his daughter. When I asked why he told me while he was giving my granddaughter a ride to school, out of the blue she said, “Just think Dad, only six more weeks and we get the pony car out of storage.” Aw, yes, that girl has my heart. 

Only two classes left of my eight week writing class. I’m going to miss it, but will be glad to have one more evening of writing again. Next weekend one of the groups I volunteer for is putting on a Mobster Mystery Dinner—one of those where the murder happens while you’re eating and everyone has to figure out who did it. Promises to be a fun event! Today, we have out-of-town company arriving this afternoon, and a celebration of life to attend this evening, as well as another one tomorrow. 

Until next time, turn your dreams into plans—I know you can do it!